


Let Me Name the Stars for You

by comtessedebussy



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Angst, Happy Ending, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-11-09 04:22:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17994755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comtessedebussy/pseuds/comtessedebussy
Summary: Alex overhears Michael's conversation with Isobel.“The ship’s leaving tomorrow at 6am,” Isobel tells him.Alex’s heart stills for a beat.“I’ll be there,” Michael says.





	Let Me Name the Stars for You

**Author's Note:**

> ahahaha did you really think it would take me more than a week to start coming up with angst for these two
> 
> Title from Richard Siken.

Isobel’s car is in the driveway of the cabin as Alex pulls up. It’s good that she’s here, he thinks as he approaches the house: he’s been meaning to ask her about the date of the next fundraiser she’s holding. Then he hears what she’s saying to Michael, their voices carrying through the open windows into the cool September air.

 “The ship’s leaving tomorrow at 6am,” Isobel tells Michael.

Alex’s heart stills for a beat.

“Are you – “

“No, of course not. I have Noah,” Isobel says. “But Max…after things didn’t work out with Liz, I think he wants to leave.”

 “I’ll be there,” Michael says.

Alex flees. Woods surround the cabin, and it’s not easy, walking through the mud and leaves on the overgrown trails, but he needs to get out of here.

Eventually he reaches a clearing. It’s completely dark by now, and the stars twinkle above him. It had been a starry night just like this one when Michael had told him the truth about himself. And another starry night when a ship had landed, ethereal and glittering, changing their lives forever.

It had seemed, then, like the world opening up before him. Now, he feels indescribably tiny, dwarfed by the cosmos glimmering peacefully above him.

Tomorrow, Michael would be gone. Alex would look up at these same stars, and remember what he had for just a short while.

 _Why?_ He wonders. Michael had looked at him with such love yesterday.

….

Alex climbs the porch steps wearily. Michael had insisted that they needed a ramp to make things easier for Alex, but Alex had brushed him off, too proud. Now it’ll never get built, he supposes.

Inside, Michael is curled up on the couch, reading a physics book full of incomprehensible equations. Only one lamp is alight, limning his already-golden features. Alex feels another pang in his heart at the thought that it might be the last time he sees this.

“Why aren’t you packing?” he asks.

Confusion paints Michael’s features as he looks up at Alex.

“What are you talking about?”

“I heard you and Isobel,” he says. He can feel tears brimming in his eyes, but suddenly, he doesn’t care. “ _They_ ’re leaving tomorrow, and you said I’d be there. Were you going to even say goodbye, before you left?”

Understanding dawns on Michael. He unfolds his lanky frame from the couch and stands, book forgotten.

“I said I’d be there to say goodbye to Max,” Michael explains. “He’s my _brother,_ and I might never see him again.”

Oh.

Michael approaches him, cradling Alex’s face in his. His thumb brushes away the tear that has left a salty trail down his cheek.

“Alex, I love you,” Michael says, soft but adamant. “You’re it for me. After everything, did you really think I’d leave without a goodbye?”

“I panicked,” Alex admits bashfully.

Michael’s mouth curves in a fond smile, and he leans forward to kiss Alex.

“Come away with me,” he says as he touches their foreheads together.

“What?”

“We were going to leave here once, remember? We still can. There’s nothing left for us here but painful memories. Come see the stars with me.”

“Just like that?”

But even as he says it, he knows Michael’s right. There’s nothing for them here. The dusty old museum where they had their old kiss was being renovated; it hadn’t looked the same in years. The home where he’d grown up was memories of pain and violence and bruises. His father had torn down the toolshed when he’d enlisted. And then there was a grave, with the words “Jesse Manes.”

Alex hadn’t attended the funeral.

Michael is watching him carefully. He must see the decision on Alex’s face, because he pulls him in by the waist. “You can be, you know, _abducted_ by an alien,” he points out, barely able to keep a straight face.

Alex chortles. When had this become his life?

“You are so silly,” he says. Then: “Yes. Take me away from here.”

 

The next time they kiss, it’s just like their first time: among the stars.  


End file.
